Throughout Eastern Europe, Dacha means ‘summer house.’ Practically, dachas are an escape from the city: small simple cottages with a yard for growing vegetables to pickle. Culturally, the dacha takes on a semi-mythic quality. It is a space outside time that is both creative and close to nature, built with a view out to the natural world’s weird tension between beauty and brutality. If people live in the city, they dwell in the dacha.

Oregon is in many ways the preeminent Dachaland of the USA. Given the present confluence of our various environmental, cultural and humanitarian crises, it is time to reframe the dacha: less as an escape, more as a laboratory. The vineyards that I farm in the Southern Willamette and Umpqua Valleys, as well as the wines that I make in Corvallis, OR, are at once meticulously managed and outside of my control. The acreage—7 to 9 acres depending on the year—is a scale at which I feel that I can really pay attention. I am working to grow the biodiversity and health of the vineyards, and the diversity of people who drink the wines that come from them.

 If you have questions about the wines, the vineyards, or ordering, please email isabel@dachawines.com.